Search DiSC Profile Blog

Tips To Improve Your Resume

Your resume is your brand. It is your opportunity to introduce yourself to someone you have not yet met. Essentially, it is a piece of paper that will leave a first impression on someone who you hope will hire you, and we all know that you only get one chance to make a first impression. This means the pressure is on you to make something really good out of it.

There are various “rules” that people say you should stick to in terms of presentation of your resume, but what really works? What are some of the must do – and must not do – things when it comes to writing this important document?

Get Resume Coaching

There are various coaches who have a lot of experience in writing resumes and they are able to give you very important hints and tips in terms of what you should and shouldn’t do. However, do make sure, that you choose a coach who is experienced in your field of work.

“If you get professional help, use a coach who has experience in your field. Every profession has its own customs. For instance, Wall Street resumes should be tailored to readers with short attention spans.”
Seven Ways To Perfect Your Resume

Also, make sure that your coach gives you plenty of advice and training, but that they don’t actually write your resume for you. You will be questioned on what is in your resume and if you don’t know it yourself, or if you use a very different tone, you will not make a good second impression.

Get Your Layout Right

It is said that a resume should be no more than two pages (single sided) long. Longer than that and your reader will no longer remain interested. Not just that, you should consider the fact that your resume is likely to be folded up in an envelope. Or, if it is viewed electronically, the screen may have some zoom in it. This basically means that the top half of your first page is the most important bit of all. This is where you have to really grab the attention of your reader. Getting the layout right is immensely important.

“Use margins, short paragraphs and an easy-to-read font size – 10 to 12 points – to sell yourself. Use bold fonts and underline key phrases and achievements. The most important points need to jump off the page.”
Six Ways To Improve Your Resume

Don’t Use a Skills Section

Many of us have a standard way of writing a resume that we have stuck with for years. It generally involves personal details, followed by education, a skills set and then work experience. Recruiters have said time and again that you should drop the skills set section.

“Reeves said this type of information should either be incorporated into the resume itself — and backed-up with specifics — or go into a cover letter.”How To Improve Your Resume – 6 Tips

Your skills should shine through in the explanations you give on the jobs you have done, or the education you have received. Yes, it can be useful to point out what your skills are in a bulleted, concise list, but put this in your cover letter instead, referencing to your resume.

Add A Unique Dimension To Your Resume

You need to find a way to differentiate your resume from the hundreds of resumes every job opportunity gets daily. The objective is to personalize your resume to the point that the reader gets to know you and wants to call you in for an interview. Most good companies perform both skillset based interviews and behavioral interviews – determining how well you might fit into their team. They will very likely ask tough questions about you to see how well you know yourself and the degree of self-awareness you possess – questions you might not have thought much about.

The best way to gain self-awareness is using a personality assessment. Use a DiSC Profile to improve your resume. Because you’ll become more self-aware using the results of the DiSC Profile, you’ll more easily ace the behavioral portion of your interviews. You’ll know how to maximize on your strengths and minimize your weaknesses. Adding that unique behavioral aspect to your resume will get your resume to the top of the stack.

Do Not Lie on Your Resume

They say that everybody lies on their resume and this is probably true. However, just because everybody lies does not mean you should. In fact, although a lot of people do indeed lie on their resume, a lot of these people get caught out as well and you can imagine how devastating that can be. You have to be able to sell yourself as you are, and believe that you are good enough for the job. You don’t do this by presenting yourself as someone you are not, not in the least because you will not be able to keep up that charade for any lengthy time. So, go over your resume and remove the fibs.

“Any resume lie — even a seemingly inconsequential one — can put your job search and future job security in jeopardy. Replace lies with truths — or set about making the lies true. It could be as simple as putting the word “pursuing” before that imaginary degree on your resume.”Creative Ways To Improve Your Resume

Get Your Content Right

Last but not least, you have to make sure that the actual content of your resume is right. It is permissible to brag about things you have achieved and done, and to use certain buzzwords like “pioneered” or “spearheaded” in your resume. Also consider looking into keywords. There are some great online tools to find out what people look for in relation to others. So for instance, if you are applying for a job as a machine operator, you could find out that employers are looking for certain brands or types of machines, which you can then add to your resume. This is particularly important if you intend to post it on online job sites. Naturally, it cannot be stressed enough that you have to get your grammar and your spelling right. You will never leave a good impression if you make mistakes like that.

It cannot be stressed enough how important a resume is. It is your opportunity to tell the world who you are, and being “okay” or “mediocre” is not acceptable. You have to create something that totally jumps out.

“You can either stand out by being so awful that you’ll be remembered as an example of what not to do, or you can stand out by having an exemplary resume that is crafted for the position, and accurately describes who you are as an employee in one page of text.”The Importance Of A Good Resume

You may as well give these tips a try, because you will never get the job with something mediocre, which means the result would be exactly the same as if you had handed in the resume that is classed as what not to do. Be as daring as you can, while remaining professional and exemplary of your skills. Hopefully, the above tips will help you to create the positive stand out resume. Much success in your job search.

Co-owner/Co-founder of Intesi! Resources. Educated as an architect I transitioned to technology during my career in architecture. Intesi! Resources was founded in 2002 and my focus is everything Web/eCommerce related from the design and development of our site to all the marketing activities involved. I also provide significant support for our clients on all our products and how they are used to deliver assessment-driven learning solutions that develop self-awareness and interpersonal skills.

About Steve Giles

Co-owner/Co-founder of Intesi! Resources. Educated as an architect I transitioned to technology during my career in architecture. Intesi! Resources was founded in 2002 and my focus is everything Web/eCommerce related from the design and development of our site to all the marketing activities involved. I also provide significant support for our clients on all our products and how they are used to deliver assessment-driven learning solutions that develop self-awareness and interpersonal skills.